The Philippine National ID: Here’s What You Need To Know

One of the campaign promises of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was the establishment of a National ID System. It is one of the measures to be adopted by the government to unify and modernize the services for the Filipino people. These include the distribution of government grants and subsidy, the elimination of red tape, and the improved security of identity-related transactions like opening a bank account or getting police or NBI clearance.

Today, the National ID System Law has been signed by the President, and here are the important things that you should know.

Filipinos will soon get national IDs after President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law the Philippine Identification System Act on Monday, August 6. This creates a unified and streamlined national identification system as opposed to the decades long practice of having several ID’s, more than 30 in fact, for various government and private entities like the SSS, GSIS, COMELEC and others.

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said “A Filipino will no longer have to present multiple identification cards simply to prove his identity.”

How does it work?

1. A physical national ID or PhilID will be issued to each individual who registers with the system. Every Filipino and Resident Alien will have to register.

2. Registration for the ID will be free of charge for Filipino Citizens. Filipinos living abroad may sign up for their national ID with the embassy or consular office where they are located.

3. Each person will also get a randomly generated, unique, and permanent ID number or Common Reference Number (CRN). The assigned number will be automatically recognized by government systems.

4. Personal data to be collected for the national ID will include name, sex, date of birth, place of birth, blood type, and address.

5. Biometrics information will also be collected, including facial image, full set of fingerprints, iris scan, and other identifiable features that are necessary. This will be done for children age 5 years old and above.

1. All other redundant ID’s like the UMID, Voter’s ID, Philpost ID and others will be phased out later.

2. The initial stage of implementation will be handled by the Philippine Statistics Authority, but will later be turned over to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

3. The Phil ID or number can be used when dealing with national government agencies, local government units, government-owned and controlled corporations, government financial institutions, and the private sector.

4. Under the law, a record history will track each transaction made under each ID number.

5. The Data Privacy Act would protect those registered from any violation of their right to privacy. Breach of privacy will be punishable by law.

The Philippine government alloted P2 billion for the initial implementation of the program. The Philippines is currently one of only 9 countries in the world without a national ID system, but that is about to change soon.

What about the OFW’s?

Filipinos living and working abroad can register at the embassy or consular offices in their countries of location to get their assigned Common Reference Number (CRN). The application for the ID system shall remain free of charge.